The Iowa / Nebraska System Protection and Substation Conference was originally established in 1977 as a three day protection school presented by Westinghouse and continued as a one day protection seminar until 1991 where a second day was added to cover general substation topics. In 2002, in an effort to integrate current events and trends affecting our utilities, a third day was added. The special topic this year will be a seminar on Renewables. Conference attendance has increased from 39 participants in 1977 to well over 200 in 2019 while attendee's costs remain at a minimum, $7.50 in 1981 to $65.00 in 2019.

Attendance includes engineers, technicians, and other professionals involved with relaying and substation construction and maintenance from utilities across Iowa and Nebraska. Along with various municipalities and cooperatives, the following major utilities are represented: 

Lincoln Electric System

MidAmerican Energy Co. 

Nebraska Public Power District 

Omaha Public Power District 

(plus numerous co-ops and consultants)

The program is organized by the Omaha Public Power District, System Protection and Substation Engineering departments. The program consist of informal presentations by the host vendor and the participating utilities. The presenters often hand out notes and/or copies of the slides presentation. However, formal written papers are not required. Presentations are technical in nature and address design, application, or operational issues. 

 What makes this utility conference unique is that it is comprised of utility professionals and one sponsoring manufacturer or vendor. Utility discussions and presentations make up over 50% of the presentations. These program guidelines have ensured that this conference remains a successful utility engineer's conference.